One of the largest river caves in Belize, Barton Creek Cave consists of giant passages covered with numerous large speleothems over a navigable river and these features of the cave have made it a popular cave tour in the Cayo District.
Barton Creek is a cathedral-like wet cave once used for ceremonial purposes and human sacrifices by the Maya. A pair of Peace Corps volunteers stumbled on the cave in 1970 and found that it had been looted but still contained an enormous amount of pottery and artifacts. Archaeologists didn’t study the cave until 1998; they found large ceramics on high ledges, plus evidence of 20 human remains, including a necklace made of finger bones.
As your guide slowly paddles you deeper into the earth, the watery sound of his paddle will echo on the limestone. The cave is at least seven miles deep, but tours only go in about a mile or so before turning around.